Lunch Duty

It has been crazy here at school the past few weeks. I can never seem to get caught up with grading and my other responsibilities. For instance, this week I have lunch duty, which is no fun.

The classroom is an absolute mess, as is the lab area. I have ongoing labs in 3 classes, two of which need to use the lab space.

Yesterday, two other teachers and I were complaining that most of the high school students don't care if they get their homework done or not. You can give them extra time and they won't work on it. You can make it due at the end of the period, and the result is the same, they don't work on it. You may guess that homework in our school isn't graded heavily, but over half of our students have D's and F's in 2 or more classes, so obviously not doing homework has consequences. Many of these students are failing core classes like English, Government, and Math, not to mention science.

Today, the high school staff had a meeting before school to address the problem. We are absolutely clueless as to what to do. Parents are notified weekly if students are failing or have D's. When staff members talk to the students in question, the student's basically tell us they don't care. So, how to make them care. I would think with their attitude they wouldn't even be able to get a job. Our present solution is that as a group (of teachers), we will sit down individually with each student and discuss and come up with a plan of action to get out of the situation they are in. Of course, that may make things worse because as more than one student has said, "All of them teachers is out to get me." (Yes, I actually heard a student say this, poor grammar and all.)

It sounds all gloom and doom I know, but at least in Grades 10 - 12, most of our students have a horrible attitude about school. However, grades 7 - 9 generally like school, get their work done (on time), and have a very good attitude. What really upsets us as a staff is that there are a few students that are genuinely trying to do want to do well, and their classmates won't allow it to happen.

Well, on to today's happenings:

• ESCI - Started our Sedimentary and Metamorphic Rock Lab. I actually enjoy these rock labs, and for the first time in many years, the students are actually trying to figure out the differences between different types of rocks. Hopefully their positive attitude will continue the rest of the year.
• CHEM - Finished our lab we started yesterday. Yesterday we began the process of turning Aluminum (Foil) into Alum. The purpose was to try to illustrate the concept that if you know (have) a balanced formula, you can predict how many grams of a substance you will produce (in this case Alum), if you know how many grams of a substance you started with (Aluminum.) Plus, in this lab they get to play with KOH and H2(SO4)*.
• LSCI - Continuing our little microbiology lab. Yesterday, students went around the school collecting "bacteria" samples off objects. The day before they tested the effectiveness of handwashing and hand sanitizer on removing bacteria. Today they started to collect their results and write their lab reports. Just a word of warning: You may not want to touch most of the 7th grade boys' hands, but the girls' hands are much safer. (The boys' petri dishes had 10 to 50 times more bacteria than the girls' dishes.)
• PSCI - Reviewed for tomorrow's test. They did o.k. I sure hope the test goes well. I did give them an extra credit assignment. I told them I would give them even more extra credit points on the test if they could tell me how many grams of Alum can be produced from 1.4 grams of Aluminum**. (For those of you that want to try, the formula mass of Alum = 474, mass of Aluminum=27, and for every mole aluminum, you produce 1 mole alum.) Obviously, the kids complained it was too hard, but some realized that the chemistry students might know how to answer the question.
• BIO - Finished working on their crossword puzzle. The took their vocab quiz. Then started today's assignment. They are supposed to write a story illustrating the concepts in our present chapter (Bacteria and Viruses). They will get to finish it tomorrow.
• ADV BIO - Worked on their study guide for Friday's Test. The test was supposed to be tomorrow, but the school counselor is taking all the juniors out of class in the afternoon to go over their ASVAB scores.

* the 2 and 4 should be subscripts. KOH = Potassium Hydroxide, H2SO4 = Sulfuric Acid
** You should produce 24.6 grams Alum from 1.4 grams Aluminum.

Why I haven't blogged recently

So, these past few weeks have been rather busy. School, as usual, has kept me busy. But with the addition of the Holiday Season now upon us, it seems as if I'm more busy than usual.

The Thanksgiving Weekend was very nice. My wife and I (along with the pooch), drove to my parents house on the Canadian Border. Yup, we spent Thanksgiving 1/4 of a mile away from Canada. How exciting. I did make it into Canada once. Yup, dad and I drove to Duty Free for a flat of beer.

Thanksgiving was great, with my sister and her family showing up. Got to watch a little football, eat a little food, and just relax. Friday was more relaxing, and Saturday we drove back home. The bummer was though that I started to get sick on Friday, and got worse on Saturday. Those darn students, givin' me some nasty head cold. Bummer #2, I think I gave my wife whatever I had, so now she's not feeling as well.

With Thanksgiving done, we've started to put up Christmas decorations. Sunday, I put a few lights up on the house (Boy, it sure is easier when you have a ladder to help), along with some lights on our scrawny bush outside. I must agree with my wife, the bush needs more lights. Maybe I'll get a little adventurous and put some up on the roof as well.

Inside more Christmas Cheer. The tree is up, but not yet decorated. This year, in order to save room, I only put up 1/3 of the tree. Yup, that's right folks, I only put up the front side of the tree. That way it takes up less room in living room, meaning more room for the dog and cat to chase one another. My wife has also been busy putting out other small decorations and adding other small touches. Next on my list (other than help decorating the tree), is to start working on that X-mas letter.

In between work, travel, decorating, walking the dog, I've been keeping myself busy with TV and books. Presently I'm 1/3 of the way through A Feast for Crows and absolutely loving it. As for TV, of course we watch the Biggest Loser and Amazing Race. The Biggest Loser finale was great, albeit maybe a little to long. My favorite, Matt, won, which was really neat. Boy, some of those contestants looked really good. I hardly recognized most of them.

I told you so, The Amazing Race made their way to Yellowstone Nat'l Park and Old Faithful. Next week, it looks like they will be a Reservation. My question, if they're in Yellowstone, and the crew stayed in Billings, which reservation do you think they went to? If they stayed near the Interstate, maybe the Crow, buy if they came up through Cody, maybe they went to the Northern Chyanne. I can't wait until next week.

Something not work related

Well, I've just finished posting to my work blog. I am quite upset. To understand why I'm upset, please read my latest post on that blog.

So, to get my mind off work, I've decided to post about anything other than work.

To start with, my X-mas wish list:

1. I can't tell you, otherwise Santa won't give it to me.

Next, my take on the Timberwolves:

• KG is still the man.
• The T-wolves are not fielding a competitive team which translates into a long season. However, The T-wolf season will be more interesting to watch than the present Vikings season.
• Flip Saunders is awesome. To bad he now coaches for the Pistons. Did you hear, the Pistons haven't lost a game yet.
• Did I mention KG? He sure is good.

Wine:

• Yes, I do like a good glass of wine. These days I'm partial to a good Australian Shiraz.

TV Shows:

• Boy, Dr. Jeff sure looked good last night. To bad he was not "The Biggest Loser". I know giving him the boot was a strategic move, but it would have been nice if he could have made it another week.
• The Biggest Loser had better stop zooming in on Matt when he gives his "eviction" speeches. He makes me tear up every time. I know he is emotional, but please, I don't need to cry with him.
• Where was my Amazing Race last night?! CMA's or Amazing Race? Really, it's no choice. Gimme my Race.
• So how long do you think Stephanie will last on Survivor? I don't think she's going to make it many more weeks. At least Bobby John made it to the Jury this time.
• So, who wants Randall to win the Apprentice? I know I do. I think he may be the best contestant remaining. At least Marcus is gone. I am enjoying these board room massacres.
• Does anyone care about The Apprentice: Martha Stewart? I don't. But I am enjoying some of the drama between the contestants. Martha herself is just plain boring.
• My favorite new show is still "How I Met Your Mother."
  
• Which Law and Order is the best one? I just can't decide. I really like CI, but SVU really gets my attention every Tuesday. And what about the original. I would probably lean toward the original, just because I really like the "Order" side of Law and Order.
• Is there any good show on Friday Night?
  

Book Tapes:

• Right now I'm listening to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke. So far, I've really been enjoying it. Granted, I'm only 45 minutes in, but those 45 minutes have been darn good. After I listen to the next 32 hours, I will let you know what I thought of the whole book. The book has been described as a "Harry Potter for adults".

Speaking of Harry Potter:

• How many of you are going to try to see the latest movie this weekend? I think my wife and I may try to see it. It will probably be an anniversary present of sorts. (You see, it was about this time we had our second date/official first date.) Our first official first date was on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I think we may even be going to the same restaurant that we went to the first time.

Books:

• I'm about 1/6th of the way through George R.R. Martin's A Feast for Crows. Boy is it sure good. To bad I have to go to work everyday, otherwise I'd be at home reading it right now.

Well, I probably should get back to work. I must figure out what I'm going to do with a few students.

A little respect please

O.k., so I'm fuming mad right now. It seems as if a few of our students do not respect other cultures and people.

So, the last few days, a few of our junior boys have taken to imitating the manner in which Native American people speak. While doing this, they will insert comments about their modes of transportation, activities, and anything else they associate with Native Americans. Of course, none of these additional comments are positive. The students in question probably think they are being cute, but instead they are just plain offensive.

(Yes, there are many problems on our reservations. Yes, some Native American people speak differently. But harassment is harassment. And I am aware that the line between harassment and fun is not always clear.)

I will admit, I may be overly sensitive about this particular issue. Growing up on a reservation, I was surrounded by not only all the problems on the reservation, but by all the exceptional Native Americans trying to make a difference in their lives and community. It is very easy to see the problems on reservations, but there are many people trying to make things better.

O.k., so the behavior of the junior boys does anger me, but today they have gone one step further. Today, during lunch, that have started incorporating Spanish names into their little dialogues. And yes, my name was included. Were they talking about be, probably not. My first name is a very common Spanish name. Suffice it to say, none of it was spoken in a positive manner.

BUT, the straw that broke the camel's back was when they referred to my classroom. You see, they said they were going to (insert Spanish name here)'s class. Not to the science room, not to Mr. (insert last name here)'s room. No, they used my first name.

I know sometimes in small towns, kids know the adults by their first names. I have no problem with them accidentally using them. Often, they correct themselves right after using your first name. But these students had no intention of correcting themselves. Prior to their use of my first name in reference to me, they had used the name in a derogatory manner about a more famous individual that shares my first name. So obviously I am livid.

Well, I won't have these students for another 1 1/2 hours. But when they show up, I believe we will be having a little talk about respect. The problem is, I don't know how I'm going to "talk" to the students without become very angry and upset. I will have to think on it.

Hey look, it's us!!

Yup, that's right folks, my wife and I have been turned into South Park characters. Thanks to grrrbear for point this site out on his blog. As grrrbear warns though, it can be a bit tricky saving the image you create.

Now, if the developers of the site can only figure out what Santana and Wulfgar would look like as South Park Characters.

Books: A Feast for Crows; Science; Footprints

Well, I got my book yesterday! Boy, I sure wanted to start reading it. I mean, it has been 5 years since there has been a new book in the series. Sadly, I was too tired to do much more than read the first page. Hopefully, this weekend I will get to start the book. I do want to finish the book I'm currently reading though, and I might take it to work and read it there.

The book I'm reading IS a science book, so I guess it would be o.k. to take it and read at work. So, the book might be a bit political. I mean, how can it not be with a title like The Republican War on Science. It is a very interesting book on the politization of science, and how both Democrats and Republicans have abused science for their own needs. Not surprisingly, Republicans have abused science more so than Democrats.

What has surprised me so far has been that Bush Sr. actually did not abuse science like that of his predecessor or his son. In the eyes of the author, Bush Sr. might actually be a champion of science. His son has however cannot be considered a champion of science. In fact, more than any other administration, the Bush Administration has repeatedly and continually abused science, distorting to achieve his own goals. Of course, this is made easier because many in the general public do not understand how science works.

I am in the middle of another book that will have to be put on the back burner until I'm done with both my science book and of course, A Feast for Crows. The book, The Footprints of God, was given to my by my parents after my grandmother and my parents read it. So far, it has been a fun book to read. But sadly, it will now have to wait until I'm done with my other books.

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On a different note, I'm extremely frustrated with current Minnesota teams playing. The Vikings are playing pee-wee football, and really don't stand a chance doing well against real teams. (Real teams being any team not in the NFC north.) Brad Johnson is playing with the Vikes again, he will surely make this season a little better. I remember when he first came on the scene, replacing Warren Moon I think? Now he's back replacing Culpepper, who is out for the season. The only problem I see is that because of Daunte's injury, Mike Tice might be back for another year. I can just see it, those in charge would feel that Tice failed not because he is a crappy coach, but because he didn't have his star. Hopefully they don't forget that we sucked this year even when Daunte was on the field.

As for the Timberwolves, so far, I'm not impressed. Sure, they beat crappy teams, but do they really have a chance against teams like San Antonio, Miami, Detroit, or the Pacers. I don't think so. I don't know how many more seasons KG can play on mediocre teams.

I haven't been following hockey, but the Wild has not been my team. My team, the Flames, probably won't even make it to playoffs, but I have to root for them. Not only can they not compete with the rich American teams, but shouldn't the winner of the Stanley Cup be either from Canada or from some Northern State.

Enough ranting, I can't wait to get home and read my book(s).

Testing. 1,2,3, testing

Well, my students are taking a test, so I thought it might be a good time to post some to this blog.

I just kicked a student out of lab. Actually, I removed him from lab last period, during chemistry lab. The group of students in chemistry tend to get a bit rowdy, so before lab, I warned them that ANY messing around, no matter how minor, will get them removed from lab. The lab is pretty simple, but requires students to burn magnesium metal over a laboratory burner. Anyway, 35 minutes into lab, the student in question decides he will start making saliva bubbles and project them onto the lab bench, his lab partner, or any other object within view. Well, needless to say, he was removed.

I hate to second guess myself, but I believe I was right in my actions. The saliva bubbles were not large, but essentially I view it as spitting. Definitely gross. Well, he claims other students were doing the same (which I don't believe), and if that was the case, I caught HIM red-handed. After being removed, he pouted, says he wants to move to another school, etc.

Earlier in the year, I removed him from lab for "punching" another student in lab. I put "punching" in quotes, because they were attempting to see who could withstand the most pain. (I should say, both involved were removed, not just the one.) As they were punching each other, they would occasionally fall backwards, or brace themselves on the lab bench, a lab bench with beakers on hotplates, and students trying to filter solutions.

Most of the students did not finish lab, so I have to determine if I let him back in. His partner is very capable of finishing the lab by himself. I will have to think on it.

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I'm extremely tired. Tuesday, as I mentioned in my previous post, was Parent/Teacher conferences. It was supposed to run from 4 to 7 pm. By 7:45, my last set of parents had left my room. So, my prediction of a 14 hour day was correct (if you include the 2 hours of commuting.) Because it ran long though, I didn't get home until close to 9 pm, where I then had to eat something really quick, and then get to bed, so I could be at work by 7:40 the next day. As a result, I have not really felt up to par these last two days.

The good part about Parent/Teacher conferences is that I saw well over twenty sets of parents, representing about 35 of my students. Most of the meetings went very well, there was one meeting, that I did not think went as well as all others. My question though is this, why is it that the parents that show up for Parent/Teacher conferences are the parents of the good students? I saw very few parents of students having problems. However I did see a few, which is quite an improvement over past years.

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I might have to stay late tonight. I have been recruited to help some of the BPA (Business Professionals of America) students on their projects for the upcoming regional competition. Specifically, I'm supposed to help the students that designing web sites. It seems that I'm the only staff member that has used any sort of web publishing software, in particular, FrontPage 2003. I took a class on it this summer, so hopefully I can remember the basics of the program. I must say, using Frontpage 2003 is much easier than coding your website by hand (which I have done before, and is not much fun.) I just have to remember to teach the students about tables. I know many of them want to put all sorts of glitz in their website, but I'm going to try to get them to do the basics. Hopefully though, I won't be too late getting home tonight, as my wife also has a meeting tonight and will definitely be getting home late.


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Today's happenings:

• ESCI: Finished our Igneous Rock Identification Lab. Most of the students are now starting to figure out the difference between intrusive and extrusive rocks!
• CHEM: Lab. Turning magnesium metal into magnesium oxide. The lab walks them through the procedure, and then how to determine the empirical formula from the data.
• LSCI: Test over classification, scientific names, biogenesis, and spontaneous generation. I think they will do pretty well.
• PSCI: Test over Mechanical energy, thermal energy, temperature, and specific heat.
• BIO: They have a vocabulary quiz, and then will start to construct a phylogenic tree out of random shapes.
• ADV BIO: Just working on chapter 6 vocabulary. The chapter is about muscles cells, their structures and how they function.

Hopefully I will have time to post tomorrow. I just hope the rest of the day is pretty easy.

It's on its way!!

They shipped my books I ordered. Yup, A Feast for Crows, by George R.R. Martin is on its way!!!!!! I can't wait. It has been too long since a new book has come out. Yippee!!!!!!!! Hopefully, I'll have it before Wednesday. Although, I do want to finish my current book, before I start this one.

Start of a new week

I really should be grading papers right now, instead of blogging, but I could use the break.

After a disappointing weekend for both athletics squads (both lost in their respective playoffs), the students came back, energized, but not at all focused. Trying to get them to stay on task today was incredibly difficult, except for biology class (more on that later.) Of course, the fact that the boiler is on, and my room is very warm, does not help. Very few high school students got their work done today, and I'm quite tired of reminding them to get back on task.

Biology class was a bit different though. Most worked through the period, without interruption. Well, I handed back the test they took on Thursday. Simply put, the tests were absolutely horrible. So today, we corrected the test, and of course, being the meanie that I am, made the corrections due at the end of the period. That made for an extremely quite, and productive period.

Not much on the horizon as far as class work. I can't wait until Thursday. On Thursday, the chemistry class will be preparing Magnesium Oxide. It's quite fun, and demonstrates how to use the concepts (moles, molarity, deriving empirical formulas, etc.) we have been learning this chapter well. I hope the students enjoy it.

Today in Science Class

• ESCI - Finished talking about Igneous Rocks, how to classify them, Igneous Rock structures, and volcanoes.
• CHEM - Hydrates. Learned how to determine how many water molecules "adhere" to each formula unit if given the amount of each compound.
• LSCI - Worked on a study guide to review the concepts of the chapter
• PSCI - Started a review worksheet.
• BIO - As mentioned above, they corrected their tests today.
• ADV BIO - Review work for Thursday's test on the skeletal system, ossification, and joints.

Tomorrow is Parent/Teacher conferences, So I probably, will not be blogging. It will be a late night, as I have to remain at school until 7 pm. So it looks like it will almost be a 12 hour day, closer to 14 if you count the commute.

Been to busy to post

I'm sure you have noticed that I haven't posted anything new in awhile.

Last week was the end of the quarter. And this week with grades due and a few activities that required quite a bit of prep, I haven't had much free time to add any new posts. Hopefully that will change after the end of this week.

Do not fret, I haven't died, nor run off. Just been to darn busy.

I'm Back, I think

If you haven't noticed, the posts have been sparse the last two weeks. Well, there is a very good explanation for this. Last week was the final week of the first quarter at school, so I was busy trying to get caught up with work (both my and students' work). Well, this week, grades were due on Wednesday, so obviously, I spent my few spare minutes at work doing grades, rather than posting to this blog. Well, grades are in, all of last quarter's work is done, so now I may have more time to blog.

Just a few random thoughts

Last Friday, my wife and I went to the opera at the Alberta Bair Theatre. The opera, La Traviata, was quite fascinating. We sat in the front row. My favorite part was examining things like the set, the costumes, the orchestra, etc. I also enjoyed trying to figure out what the heck was being sung. I was able to figure out a few of those Italian words, but not enough. The nice thing about the Rimrock Opera Theatre is that for those newbies they have a basic translation projected above the stage. Granted, it was difficult for my wife and I to see the projection at times, but it was very useful.

Well, our x-mas shopping is almost complete. We have just a few small gifts to get for some family members and then we will be done. Boy does it feel nice to be almost done. On the other hand, I have just started shopping for my wife's presents. My only problem is trying to find hiding spots for them so she won't find them. Presently, the best hiding spot is at school.

Lastly, I am just giddy with anticipation about the upcoming 4th novel of A Song of Ice and Fire, A Feast for Crows. Hopefully, my copy will arrive shortly after next Tuesday. I'm almost done listening to the audio book version. I've been listening to it because it has been 5 years since the last book came out. I've heard many good things about the book. Problem is, I frequent a few posting boards, and well, all the topics have spoilers about the book. Those darn brits (and those Americans that couldn't wait for the U.S. version)! They got the book first, and they are just tempting me to read the spoilers to ruin my enjoyment when I do get my hands on the book. Hopefully, I will remain busy enough that I won't have time to view those spoiler topics. Hopefully.